I'm the environment editor at Forbes. Before joining Forbes in April 2011, I wrote about all things green and tech as a contributor to The New York Times, a senior editor at Fortune and an assistant managing editor at Business 2.0 magazine. I previously was the business editor at the San Jose Mercury News and during the (first) dot-com era served as a senior writer and senior editor at The Industry Standard (RIP).

SolarCity Tries To Jump-Start Home Energy Efficiency Market With Loan Program

SolarCity is moving to capture the home energy efficiency upgrade market the same way the Silicon Valley startup and its competitors turbocharged the market for residential rooftop solar panels: Financial engineering.

The residential solar market only took off after companies like SolarCity, Sungevity and SunRun began offering leases that let homeowners avoid the steep upfront costs of buying a solar array. Instead of owning their photovoltaic panels they rent them, paying a monthly fee offset by the savings from generating solar electricity.

SolarCity in 2010 acquired a company that performs energy efficiency work– such as upgrading heating and cooling systems, installing insulation and sealing leaky buildings. After all, why go green with a solar array if the electricity is just going to fly out a drafty door. But such projects can be pricey – typically ranging from $4,000 to $12,000 – and the market tended to be limited to customers who could pay cash, according to Lyndon Rive, SolarCity’s chief executive.

To expand that market, the company on Monday said it had struck a deal with Admirals Bank of Boston to provide loans to SolarCity customers to finance energy efficiency improvements. Homeowners can take out 3 or 10-year loans or a no-interest 1-year loan and SolarCity will expand its energy efficiency services to the East Coast.

“Our goal is to start to manage all the energy needs of the home,” says Rive. “When we sign up a customer for 20-year lease for a solar system during that time they will need to do energy upgrades, replace their furnace and might want to install electric charging for a car.”

SolarCity charges $300 to conduct an audit of a home to analyze energy consumption and assess air leakage and the condition of heating and cooling systems.

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